Nearly the entire population of Saudi Arabia is ethnically
Arab. This ethnicity is a general term for the people from the Arabian Peninsula
and their descendants; in Saudi Arabia this consists of numerous groups. The core
of the word and the original bearers of the title "Arab" are the Bedouin
people, a term that today generally only refers to the nomadic Arabs. Despite this
distinguishment, the Bedouin and Arabs of Saudi Arabia are nearly identical on an
ethnic level, although every part of the country has various genetic variations
and introductions. There is also a significant African and
Asian minority in Saudi Arabia, nearly all of whom are religiously
Islamic.

Language

Arabic is the only official language in Saudi Arabia.
The written form of the language is called Modern Standard Arabic (written in the
Arabic script), which gives the language consistency across countries from a written
perspective. The spoken dialects of Arabic are so drastic from location to location
that Arabic speakers in Saudi Arabia may not even understand Arabic speakers from
a country further away, like Morocco. Obviously the dialect of Arabic in Saudi Arabia
is most closely related to the dialects spoken in nearby countries like Jordan,
Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates.

Arabic is a Semitic language; other closely related Semitic languages include Amharic
(Ethiopia) and Hebrew. More distantly related are languages like Berber (North Africa)
as well as historic languages including Phoenician and ancient Egyptian.

English is the most commonly taught second language in the country and most college
educated people speak at least some English. Some industries are heavily reliant
on international trade, or are taught in English so English is again stressed and
fluency within these industries is common.

Religion

As the center of the Muslim world, it is not a surprise that Muslim is the official
religion of Saudi Arabia and all citizens must be Muslim.
Although foreigners may live in the country temporarily, if a non-Muslim dies in
the country, their body must be removed for burial. By law, every citizen of Saudi
Arabia is Muslim.

Islam (the name of the religion, whose followers are called Muslims) is a monotheistic
religion, whose holy book is called the Qur'an. The Qur'an is believed to
be the word of God spoken through the prophet Muhammad from 609-632 CE (Common Era
is preferred over AD (Anno Domini or "year of the Lord") since the Islamic
world doesn't believe Jesus was the messiah). Islam believes Muhammad was the
last prophet sent to earth by God, the last in a long line of prophets, which includes
Moses, Abraham, and Jesus among others.

Muslims follow five pillars of their faith: testimony, prayer, alms-giving, fasting,
and pilgrimage. These pillars, and other tenants of their faith, can give great
structure to their lives as some foods, like pork, are forbidden and every Muslim
is expected to pray five times a day. However, the level of participation in each
of these pillars and to what degree Islam influences an individual's life varies
from person to person and community to community. Generally speaking, Saudi Arabia
is very conservative in how they practice Islam.

Most Muslims, including nearly everyone in Saudi Arabia, are Sunni, which is the
branch of Islam that closely follows the teachings of Muhammad and accepts Abu Bakr
as the first Caliph (a ruler of an Islamic community); the Sunni Muslims are sometimes
referred to Orthodox. Shia Muslims believe only God can chose who heads the Islamic
community and believed it was Ali, Muhammad's son-in-law who was first chosen;
Ali became the first Imam (according to Shia Muslims, this term only refers to the
leaders of the faith, to Sunni Muslims Imam is often times used in reference to
the prayer leader in mosques).